Graphic forming device with toggle clamped lamp arm

ABSTRACT

A device for composing graphics comprising a flash lamp for irradiating portions of strip material through a template when an arm supporting the lamp is moved to an exposure position at an exposure station. The template is pressed against the strip at the exposure station between a resilient frame-mounted pad and a transparent plate on the lamp arm by a toggle linkage between the frame and the arm. The template has a rectangular array of windows and is manually positionable on locating pins at the exposure station for different exposures. A positive image of each window is provided on the template, and the locating pins are movable via movement of the lamp arm from a preview position where the image is at the exposure station so the operator can see where the graphic will be formed to an exposure position with the associated window located at the exposure station for exposure. The template also has a code for each window optically readable by the device so that means in the device will advance the strip material a predetermined distance to provide appropriate spacing between graphics along the strip material.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a device for forming graphics such as letters,numbers and symbols and in one aspect to a device for forming graphicsby light exposure through a template onto a strip material.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,775 described a device that forms graphics which aremade immediately visible along a strip material. The device is adaptedto use a composite strip material, more completely described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,123,578 (the content thereof is incorporated herein byreference). Briefly, that strip material comprises a receiving webcarrying a firmly adhered layer of waxy material having a predeterminedsoftening temperature above normal room temperature, and a donor webcarrying a lightly adhered layer of colored microgranules inface-to-face contact with the layer of waxy material. One of the layersbears a radiation absorbing pigment. When the layers are positioned inintimate contact, and the strip material is momentarily exposed tointense radiation in a graphic pattern, the radiated pigment is heatedand softens the adjacent portion of the waxy layer. The softened waxymaterial adheres to the microgranules upon solidification, and when thewebs are separated the colored microgranules transfer to the receivingweb in accordance with the pattern of radiation.

The device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,775 includes means forpositioning a portion of the strip material at an exposure station withthe layers in face-to-face contact and a thin template having aradiation transmissive window in the shape of a graphic to be formedmounted to register the window at the exposure station adjacent thestrip material. Means are provided at the exposure station for pressingthe strip material and template in intimate contact, and a lamp isprovided for irradiating the clamped strip material through the windowto form a graphic on the strip material which corresponds to the windowby pivotal movement of a lamp arm at the end of which the lamp ismounted from a normal position spaced from the exposure station toafford visible inspection of the template and the portion of the stripmaterial at the exposure station, and an exposure position with the lampclosely adjacent the exposure station at which expose position the lampis operated.

While the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,775 can form graphicshaving such good resolution that even half-tone photographs can bereproduced, it requires the operator to manually set the spacing betweensuccessive graphics formed along the strip material with the aid ofguide marks on the template at the exposure station. Also, that devicerequires that the portion of the template in which the window is locatedbe positioned under a transparent plate fixed to a frame of the deviceat the exposure station, adjacent a movable plunger in the base of thedevice for pressing the strip material and template portion against theplate. In one embodiment that disadvantage is reduced by using acircular template having a plurality of windows in circular array aboutits periphery, and rotatably mounting the circular template on thedevice so that any one of the windows can be rotated into position atthe exposure station. Such circular templates, however, are very largefor the amount of windows provided thereon, and thus are wasteful ofboth template material for the manufacturer and storage space for theuser. While U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,359 describes a device of the typedescribed above that uses more compact rectangular templates, thattemplate contains only one graphic, is in the form of a slide, andrequires the operator to perform the task of inserting the slide underthe glass plate for each use of the device.

Also, both of these templates require the operator to visually evaluatespacing between the last graphic formed along the strip material and thenext graphic to be formed by comparing a positive graphic already formedon the strip material and a negataive image of the next graphic to beformed on the template portion at the exposure station, which comparisoncauses difficulty in making manual adjustments that may be desirable forbetter appearing spacing between adjacent letters, especially betweenthose letters which do not have vertical adjacent edges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a device of the type described above forforming a series of graphics such as letters, symbols, or pictures alonga strip of radiation sensitive material, which device utilizes arelatively compact flexible template having a plurality of windowsthereon, which template (1) can be easily inserted or removed from thedevice to select a desired graphic; (2) cooperates with novel means inthe device to provide automatic predetermined spacing between graphics;and (3) shows the user a positive image of the graphic that will be nextformed on the strip material to allow such manual adjustment of theautomatic spacing as may be desired to provide the proper appearancebetween graphics, particularly between those that do not have verticaladjacent edges.

Like the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,775, the deviceaccording to the present invention comprises (1) means adapted formoving the strip of material through an exposure station on a frame forthe device to position a predetermined portion of the strip at theexposure station; and (2) means for momentarily irradiating the portionof the strip material at the exposure station in a sharply definedgraphic pattern, including a template comprising a thin radiationtransparent member with a radiation blocking coating having sharplydefined open areas corresponding in shape to graphics to be formed toprovide radiation transmissive windows through the template, means formounting the template on the device to register a desired one of thewindows at the exposure station, means for releasably pressing thetemplate into intimate contact with the portion of the strip material atthe exposure station, and means for briefly irradiating the portion ofstrip material at the exposure station through the aligned windowcomprising a flash lamp, an arm supporting the lamp at one end to movethe lamp between a normal position spaced from the exposure station toafford visible inspection of the template and the adjacent portion ofthe strip material, and an expose position wih the lamp closely adjacentthe exposure station and means for activating the flash lamp and thepressing means when the lamp arm is moved to its expose position.

In the device according to the present invention, however, the means forpressing the template against the strip comprises a resilient padsupported on the frame at the exposure station under the strip material,a transparent plate on the lamp arm, which plate has one surface adaptedto engage the template over the strip material opposite the resilientpad with the lamp being supported adjacent the other surface of theplate, a toggle linkage between the frame and the arm, and a pivotablymounted activating lever adapted to engage and straighten the togglelinkage upon manual pivoting of the activating lever to press the platetoward the pad. With this means for pressing there is no need toposition the template portion to be used under a transparent platebefore the lamp arm is lowered, as with the prior art devices, so thattemplates can be more easily positioned at and removed from the device.Thus it is practical to utilize a template with a more compactrectangular array of windows and to manually reposition the template atthe exposure station for each different exposure.

Additionally, in the device according to the present invention, for eachof the windows in the template the template has an optically readablecode (which code in the preferred embodiment is a spacing opening havinga predetermined width related to the width of the window but which,alternatively, could be any other optically readable code such as a barcode related to the width of the window); and the device includesadvancing means for optically sensing the code associated with thewindow at the exposure station and for operating the means adapted formoving the strip material to advance the strip material along the path adistance related to the code upon movement of the lamp between itsexpose and normal positions to provide a predetermined amount of spacebetween graphics despite the width of the graphic formed.

Also in the device according to the present invention the template has apositive image of each window within an adjacent viewing opening, andthe template is mounted on locating members movable via movement of thelamp arm between (1) a preview position with the positive imagepositioned at the exposure station when the lamp arm is in its normalposition so that the operator can accurately preview the position alongthe strip to make any changes in spacing he may desire prior to formingof the graphic, and (2) an exposure position with the associated windowlocated at the exposure station when the lamp arm is in its exposeposition so that the strip material will be properly exposed

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention will be further described with reference to theaccompanying drawing wherein like numbers refer to like parts in theseveral views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a horizontal plan view of a device for forming graphicsaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the device of FIG. 1 having parts broken awayto show details;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken approximately along the line 4--4 ofFIG. 1 having parts broken away to show details;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken approximately along the line5--5 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are sectional views taken approximately along the line6--6 of FIG. 5 which sequentially show movement of an arm on the deviceto form a graphic;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximatelyalong the line 9--9 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a template for use on the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximatelyalong line 11--11 of FIG. 10; and

FIGS. 12 and 13 are enlarged fragmentary views showing a preview and anexpose position of a template at an exposure station on the device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawing there is shown a device according to thepresent invention for forming graphics, which device is generallydesignated by the numeral 10. The device 10 is useful for forminggraphics on a composite strip material 12 (FIGS. 4, 9, 12 and 13) of thetype previously described, and which is more fully described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,123,578 which issued Oct. 31, 1978, the disclosure whereof isincorporated herein by reference.

The device 10 includes means for defining an exposure station 14including a generally rectangular resilient support pad 15 supported ona frame 16 for the device 10, and means adapted for moving the compositestrip material 12 along a path from a supply cartridge 17 (FIG. 4)through the exposure station 14 over the pad 15 (FIGS. 4 and 9).Graphics can be serially formed along the strip material 12 (FIGS. 12and 13) by means for momentarily irradiating the portion of thecomposite strip material 12 located at the exposure station 14 in asharply defined graphic pattern. The means for irradiating comprise axenon flash lamp 19 (FIG. 4) for momentarily irradiating the stripmaterial 12 with intense illumination through one of a plurality ofradiation transmissive windows 20 in an otherwise radiation reflectivetemplate 22 (FIGS. 10, 12 and 13) located via locating members 23 on thedevice 10 (FIG. 2), while means for pressing including the resilient pad15 and an opposed glass plate 18 (FIG. 4) over the lamp 19 presses thetemplate 22 and composite strip material 12 into intimate engagement.

The flash lamp 19 is supported in the distal end of a lamp arm 24, whicharm 24 is mounted by a pin 25 (FIG. 4) on the frame 16 for pivotablemotion between a normal position for the lamp 19 and the arm 24 (FIGS.1, 2, 3, 4 and 6), wth the lamp 19 spaced from the exposure station 14;and an expose position for the lamp 19 and the arm 24 (FIG. 8) with thelamp 19 adjacent the exposure station 14. An activating lever 26 ispivotably mounted on the frame 16 by a pin 27 for movement between asecond or lowered position (FIG. 8) and a first or raised positionspaced from the exposure station (FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6) to whichraised position the activating lever 26 is biased by a spring 29. Theactivating lever 26 has an opening adapted to receive a portion of thelamp arm 24 opposite the exposure station 14, and has inwardlyprojecting ledges adapted to engage outward projections on the lamp arm24 so that the ledges will engage to move the lamp arm 24 to its normalposition as the lamp arm is moved to its raised position under theinfluence of the spring 29. After the activating lever 26 has beenmanually moved toward its lowered position to move the lamp arm 24 toits expose position (FIG. 7), the activating lever 26 can be furthermoved toward its lowered position relative to the lamp arm 24 so thatthe activating lever 26 moves down over the lamp arm 24 (FIG. 8) and therelative movement therebetween activates the means for pressing thetemplate 22 and the composite strip material 12 together, meansincluding a switch 21 for flashing the lamp 19 to expose the stripmaterial 12 through one of the windows 20 in the template 22 at theexposure station 14, and means for advancing the strip material 12 alongthe path so that the strip 12 will be advanced to provide apredetermined spacing between the graphics formed as the activatinglever 26 and lamp arm 24 move back to their respective raised and normalpositions.

The xenon flash lamp 19 and the means for flashing the lamp 19 activatedby the switch 21 are essentially the same as those described in U.S.Pat. No. 3,914,775, the description whereof is incorporated herein byreference.

As is seen in FIGS. 10 and 11 the template 22 for use in the device 10is of the type comprising a thin flexible radiation transparent member28 (e.g., photographic grade polyester) with a radiation blockingcoating 30 (e.g., a reflective vapor coating of copper) having sharplydefined open areas corresponding in shape to graphics to be formed toprovide the radiation transmissive windows 20 through the template 22,and shaped to provide viewing areas or openings 31 adjacent the windows20, which template 22, except for the location of the windows 20 andviewing areas 31, is made in accordance with the teachings in U.S. Pat.No. 3,828,359, the content thereof is incorporated herein by reference.Unlike the template described in that patent, however, the template 21has positive images 33 of the windows 20 in its associated viewing areas31, which images 33 are each positioned in predetermined relationshipwith respect to their corresponding window 20, and the template 22 has apair of locating orifices 34 at a predetermined location with respect toeach of the windows 20, which locating orifices 34 are adapted toreceive the spaced locating members 23 on the device 10.

The device 10 includes means mounting the locating members 23 formovement between an exposure position at which one of the windows 20 inthe template 22 associated with locating orifices 34 in which thelocating members 23 are inserted is located at the exposure station 14;and a preview position with the positive image 33 corresponding to thatwindow 20 located at the exposure station 14 in the position at whichthat window 20 is located when the locating members 23 are in theirexposure position; and means coupled between the arm 24 and the meansfor mounting the locating members 23 for positioning the locatingmembers 23 in their preview position when the lamp arm 24 is in itsnormal position, and for positioning the locating members 23 in theirexposure position when the lamp arm 24 is in its expose position.

Also, for each of the windows 20 the coating 30 on the template 22 hasan optically readable code or spacing opening 36 at a predeterminedlocation with respect to that window 20, which spacing opening 36 has awidth with a predetermined relationship to the width of that window 20so that means on the device 10 included in the means for moving thestrip material 12 can sense the width of the spacing opening 36associated with one of the windows 20 located at the exposure station 14to provide a predetermined spacing between a formed graphic and the nextgraphic to be formed along the strip material 12.

As is seen in FIG. 10, the windows 20 on the template are in the form ofvarious graphics and are disposed in a compact rectangular array withthe viewing opening 31 and image 33 adjacent each window 20 disposedadjacent the top edge of that window 20 with the sides of the associatedwindow 20 and image 33 in alignment, the locating orifice 34 located onthe side of the image 33 opposite the window 20 and spaced opposite eachother on opposite sides of a centerline through the associated window 20and image 33, and the spacing opening 36 located adjacent the base ofthe window 20 with its width being disposed transverse of the window 20.Preferably the array is slightly smaller than the size of a common sheetof paper (i.e., 61/2×11 inches or 15.2×27.9 centimeters) to facilitatefiling it in a conventional file, and may have a tab 37 on one edge onwhich may be written information to identify the graphics on thetemplate 22.

Means are provided to facilitate positioning the template 22 on thelocating members 23 and for ensuring that the locating members 23 willaccurately locate the template 22 on the device 10.

The spaced locating members 23 are vertically disposed, have cylindricalbase portions adapted to fit closely in the locating orifices 34, andhave truncated conical distal portions to facilitate positioning thelocating orifices 34 around the locating members 23. One of the locatingorifices 34 for each window is circular so that the base portion of themating locating member 23 will be received therein in close-fittingengagement on all sides; whereas the other locating orifice 34 for eachwindow 20 is slightly elongate in a direction transverse of the window20 so that the mating locating member 23 will be received therein withclose-fitting relationship on only its two sides parallel to a linejoining the centers of the locating members 23. This ensures accuratepositioning of the windows 20 with respect to the locating members 23,while eliminating problems with center-to-center tolerances between thelocating orifices 34. The arm 25 has a flexible resilient rectangularopen cell polymeric foam pad 38 supported from a projection on the arm24 and adapted to engage and press the template 22 fully onto the lowercylindrical portion of the locating members 23 to ensure accuratelocation thereon when the arm 24 is moved to its expose position.

The means mounting the locating members 23 for movement between theirexpose and preview positions (best seen in FIG. 5) includes acommercially available linear drawer slide 40 comprising a first part ortrack 42 fixed to the frame 16 and extending transverse of the path forthe strip 12, and a second movable part 43 on which the locating members23 are fixed mounted via ball bearings for linear movement along thetrack 42.

The means coupled between the lamp arm 24 and the means for mounting thelocating members 23 (best seen in FIG. 5) comprises a drive pin 45carried parallel to the pivot pin 25 for the lamp arm 24 by spacedprojections on the lamp arm 24, and a bar 46. The bar 46 has a centralportion mounted on the frame 16 via a headed retaining post 44 extendingthrough a longitudinally aligned slot in the central portion of the bar46 for longitudinal sliding movement in a direction parallel to a topsurface 47 of the frame 16; one generally U-shaped end portion 48defining a vertical slot in which an end of the drive pin 45 is located;and a cam plate portion 49 at its opposite end having a cam slot 50 inwhich is received a vertical projection 52 fixed to the movable part 43of the drawer slide 40. Movement of the lamp arm 24 will cause the drivepin 45 to move in an arcuate path with the horizontal component of suchmovement sliding the bar 46 along a linear path so that its cam plateportion 49 will drive the projection 52 transverse of the cam plateportion 49 and thereby move the movable portion 43 of the slide 40 andthereby the locating members 23 between their preview and exposurepositions. The end portions of the cam slot 50 are aligned parallel tothe path of movement of the bar 46 so that small differences in thelocation of the lamp arm 24 in its normal or expose positions will notaffect the corresponding location of the locating members 23 in theirpreview or expose positions to ensure accurate positioning thereof.

The path for the strip material 12 through the exposure station 14 isbest seen in FIGS. 4 and 9. The composite strip material 12 comprisestwo separate coated webs, each stored in wrapped condition on a separatereel within the supply cartridge 17, which cartridge 17 is received in asocket in the frame 16. The webs include a receiving web 53 having alayer of waxy material firmly adhered to one surface, and a donor web 54having a releasably adhered layer of microgranules. The webs 53 and 54extend through an outlet slot in the cartridge 17, around one of twodifferent guide rollers 56 and 57 (i.e., either the roller 56 which iswide for guiding wide strip material, or the roller 57 which is narrowfor guiding narrow strip material), which rollers 56 and 57 are mountedon a bracket 58 slidably mounted on the frame 16 (which provides a partof means that allow the strip material 12 to be moved in both directionsalong the path past the exposure station 14 as will later be explained),and then across the pad 15 at the exposure station 14 with the layer ofwaxy material and layer of microgranules in face-to-face contact. Fromthe exposure station 14 the webs 53 and 54 extend on opposite sides of apin 60 which will separate the webs 53 and 54 so that graphics formed onall types of strip material 12 will be easily visible through the outersurface of the web 53 and may be viewed by an operator adjacent theexposure station 14. From the pin 60 the strip material 12 extendsbetween a driven roller 62 and an idler roller 63, along a guide chute61, through means for severing the composite strip material 12, and outof a first end wall 64 of the frame 16.

The means for severing the composite strip material 12 comprises an edge59 on the frame transverse of the path for the strip material 12 and acutting arm 65 pivotably mounted on the frame 16 by a pin 51, which arm65 has an edge adapted for shearing engagement with the edge 59 on theframe to sever the strip material 12 therebetween. The cutting arm 65 isbiased by a spring 55 to a normal position (shown in FIG. 3) with itsedge spaced from the edge 59 on the frame 16, and is manually movable inopposition to the spring 55, to sever the strip material 12 via a knob66 projecting from the first wall 64 on the frame 16.

The means for moving the strip material 12 along the path from thesupply cartridge 17, past the exposure station 14, and out of the outletopening (which includes the means for providing a predetermined spacingbetween graphics and means for manually moving the strip material 12 ineither direction along the path past the exposure station 14) is bestseen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6. The means for manually moving the stripmaterial 12 is operated by a knurled knob 67 projecting from a side wall68 of the frame 16. The knob 67 is attached to a shaft 69 rotatablymounted on the frame 16 and having affixed thereto a spur gear 70 meshedwith a spur gear 71 fixed to a shaft 73 rotatably mounted on the frame16 on which shaft 73 the drive roller 62 is also fixed. The idler roller63 is rotatably mounted on a support bracket 75 (FIG. 9) which supportbracket 75 is pivotably mounted on the frame 16 at a pin 76 and biasedby a spring 77 so that the idler roller 63 will press the strip material12 along the path into driving engagement with the drive roller 62.

The slidable bracket 58 is biased by a spring 79 to its position mostdistant from the drive roller 62. Friction between the webs 53 and 54and the reels in the cartridge 17 when the strip material 12 is advancedalong the path (as by rotation of the knob 67) will cause the bracket 58and guide rollers 56 and 57 to move toward the drive roller 62 inopposition to the spring 79. If it is then desired to return the strip12 past the exposure station 14 toward the cartridge 17 (e.g., to adjustspacing between graphics), this can normally be done by rotation of theknob 67 which will allow the spring 79 to move the frame away from thedrive roller 62 to pull the strip material 12 over the pad 15 away fromthe drive roller 62 and maintain tension in the strip material 12 overthe pad 15.

The means for moving also includes means for moving a sensor 92 acrossthe width of the spacing opening 36 associated with any one of thewindows 20 in the template 22 positioned at the exposure station 14 andfor producing an electrical signal when the sensor 92 is adjacent thespacing opening 36; and means activated by that electrical signal forrotating the drive roller 62 through an angle determined by the width ofthat spacing opening 36 during movement of the lamp arm 24 andactivating lever 26 from their respective normal and raised positions totheir expose and lowered positions and back to their normal and raisedpositions to advance the strip 12 past the exposure station 14 adistance related to the graphic formed and provide a predeterminedspacing between that graphic and the next graphic to be formed along thestrip 12. The means activated by the electrical signal includes aone-way clutch 81 (FIG. 5) having a first or inner sleeve-like half 82rotatably mounted about the shaft 73 and coupled via a friction clutch83 to the gear 71 which is fixed to the shaft 73 on which shaft 73 thedrive roller is also fixed. A second generally cylindrical outer half 84of the one-way clutch 81 is positioned around the inner half 82 and isin driving engagement therewith upon rotation of the outer half 84 in afirst direction relative to the inner half 82 (counter clockwise asviewed in FIG. 6); but is relatively movable upon rotation of the outerhalf 84 in a second direction relative to the inner half 82 (clockwiseas viewed in FIG. 6). Linkage means are coupled between the outer half84 of the one-way clutch 81 and the lamp arm 24 and have portionsrelatively movable from a first relative position with the portions inengagement with each other to position the outer half 84 of the one-wayclutch 81 at a start position when the lamp arm 24 is in its normalposition, and to permit the lamp arm 24 to move to its expose positionwithout moving the outer half 84 of the clutch 81 away from its startposition. These portions comprise a first portion or rod 85 having afirst end part pivotably mounted eccentrically via a pin 87 to the outerhalf 84 of the one-way clutch 81; and a second portion or boss 88 fixedat an end of the drive pin 45 carried by the extensions on the lamp arm24 and having a through opening which slideably receives a second endpart 86 of the rod 85. A stop 89 is fixed at a predetermined position onthe rod 85 so that via engagement with the stop 89 the boss 88 willreposition the outer half 84 of the one-way clutch 81 in its startposition subsequent to a displacement therefrom when the lamp arm 24returns to its normal position, however, sliding movement of the boss 88along the rod 85 will normally allow the lamp arm 24 to be moved to itsexposure position without moving the rod 85 to displace the outer half84 of the one-way clutch 81.

One half of an electric clutch 108 is coupled to the outer half 84 ofthe one-way clutch 81, with the other half of the electric clutch 108being driven first in one direction and then in another by electricclutch drive means (later to be explained) operated by reciprocatingrelative movement between the lamp arm 24 and the activating lever 26after the lamp arm 24 reaches its expose position (see FIGS. 7 and 8),which relative movement also moves the sensor 92 first in one directionand then in the other across the spacing opening 36 associated with thewindow 20 at the exposure station 14. The electric clutch 108 isactivated via the sensor 92 when the sensor 92 is adjacent that spacingopening 36. As the activating lever 26 moves toward its loweredposition, such activation of the electric clutch 108 will attempt todrive the outer half 84 of the one-way clutch 81 in the direction inwhich it is engaged with its inner half 82 and via the friction clutch83 could drive the shaft 73 to rotate the drive roller 62 and advancethe strip material 12 along the path. The electric clutch 108, however,is sized so that it cannot transmit sufficient torque to rotate theone-way clutch 81 in that direction and thus will slip. When theactivating lever 26 moves relative to the lamp arm 24 from its loweredposition back toward its raised position, however, such activation ofthe electric clutch 108 will transmit sufficient torque to the outerhalf 84 of the one-way clutch 81 to rotate the outer half 84 from itsstart position relative to its inner half 82 through an angle related tothe width of the spacing opening 36 associated with the window 20 at theexposure station 14. Subsequently when, via engagement of the ledges onthe activating lever 26 and arm 24, the activating lever 26 returns thelamp arm 24 to its normal position under the influence of the spring 29,the boss 88 will engage the stop 89 and return the outer portion 84 ofthe one-way clutch 81 to the start position. Such movement of the outerportion 84 will rotate the inner portion 82 of the one-way clutch 81,and via the friction clutch 83 will also rotate the shaft 73 and driveroller 62 to advance the strip material 12 along its path a distancerelated to the width of the spacing opening 36 associated with thewindow 20 at the exposure station 14.

The means for sensing the width of the spacing opening 36 includes meansfor directing light through the spacing opening 36 associated with thewindow in the template located at the exposure station 14 provided by acontinuously activated light 91 in the lamp arm 24 (FIGS. 3 and 4), andmeans coupled to the activating lever 26 for moving the light sensor 92(FIGS. 4 and 5) back and forth across the width of the spacing opening36 associated with the window 20 located at the exposure station 14during the reciprocating relative movement between the activating lever26 and lamp arm 24 that occurs after the lamp 19 reaches its exposureposition, and for producing an electrical signal to activate theelectric clutch 108 during the time the sensor 92 receives light throughthat spacing opening 36.

The means for moving the sensor 92 are provided by a linkage including afirst inverted L-shaped bar 93 (FIG. 4) fixed at one end to a pin 94pivotably mounted on the frame 16, and pivotably carrying a carrier link95 at its opposite end, on which carrier link 95 the sensor 92 is fixed.At its end opposite the L-shaped arm 93 the carrier link 95 is pivotablyattached to one end of a straight bar 96 via a pin 97, which straightbar 96 is pivoted on the frame via a pin 98 at its end opposite thecarrier link 95. Pivoting movement of the bars 93 and 96 allows thesensor 92 to move along a slot 107 at the exposure station between abeginning position (FIGS. 4 and 7) adjacent the end wall 64, and anending position (FIG. 8). A crank 99 is pivotably attached to thestraight bar 96 adjacent the pin 98 and has a longitudinal slot 100 inits opposite end in which is positioned a drive pin 101 carried by anextension on the activating lever 26. The slot 100 is positioned so thatthe drive pin 101 will engage one end of the slot 100 and position thesensor 92 in its beginning position when the activating lever 26 returnsthe arm 24 to its normal position, and the drive pin 101 can move to theother end of the slot 100 without moving the sensor 92 as the activatinglever 26 moves the lamp arm 24 to its expose position. Subsequently uponmovement of the activating lever 26 relative to the lamp arm 24 with thelamp arm 24 in its expose position the drive pin 101 will move the crank99 and thereby the sensor 92 from its beginning to its ending positionand then back to its beginning position along the slot 107 adjacent thelight 91 and across the spacing opening 36 associated with the window 20at the exposure station 14. The sensor will only receive light from thelight 91 as the sensor 92 crosses that spacing opening 36. Via anappropriate conventional control circuit (not shown) the sensor 92 willtrigger the electrical signal which engages halves of the electricclutch 108 while it receives light from the light 91 . A sector gear 111is fixed on the pin 94 by which the inverted L-shaped arm is pivoted onthe frame 16 and is meshed with a spur gear 110 fixed to half of theelectric clutch 108 so that such movement of the crank 99 via relativemovement between the activating lever 26 and lamp arm 24 will alsoprovide the means for driving half of the electric clutch 108 first inone direction and then in the other as the sensor 92 is moved back andforth, and thus for rotating the outer half 84 of the one-way clutch 81away from its start position during the time the electrical signal isreceived when the sensor 92 moves from its ending position back to itsbeginning position. Thus when the activating lever 26 returns the arm 24to its normal position, engagement of the boss 88 and stop 89 willreturn the outer half 84 of the one-way clutch 81 to its start positionand via the friction clutch 72 will rotate the roller 62 through anangle related to the width of the spacing opening 36 associated with thewindow 20 at the exposure station 14.

The novel pressing means for pressing the template 22 and the stripmaterial 12 together at the exposure station 14 via relative movementbetween the activating lever 26 and the arm 24 comprises a togglelinkage 115 including parallel first and second sets of bars 116 and 117having adjacent ends pivotably joined together at a pin 118 to form aknee and opposite second ends. The second ends of the first bars 116 arepivotably attached to the frame 16 at a pin 121 and the second ends ofthe second bars 117 are pivotably attached to the lamp arm 24 at a pin123. The pivotably mounted activating lever 26 has a portion adapted toengage the knee and straighten the toggle linkage 115 during pivotalmovement of the actuating lever 26 from its raised to its loweredposition after the lamp arm 24 has been moved to its expose position.Such straightening of the toggle linkage 115 presses the glass plate 18over the lamp 91 toward the pad 15 and firmly presses the template 22and strip material 12 together therebetween.

The second ends of the first pair of bars 116 are slotted to affordlongitudinal movement of the first set of bars 116 relative to the pin121, and the means for pressing includes a stiff coil spring 122 betweenthe pin 121 on the frame 16 and the knee aligned with the first pair ofbars 116 for applying generally uniform pressure between the plate andthe pad 15 upon movement of the actuating lever 26 to its actuatingposition.

The device further includes means for providing an additional amount ofspacing between graphics formed along the strip material 12 in additionto the spacings provided by the spacing openings 36 on the template 22.

A tube 124 is threadably engaged with the end portion 86 of the rod 85opposite the one-way clutch 81 and extends through a rear wall 125 ofthe frame 16 where it can be manually engaged and rotated between anormal position where it will not be contacted via the boss 88 uponmovement of the lamp arm 24 to its expose position (in which normalposition no additional spacing will be provided); and positions wherethe tube 124 will be contacted by the boss 88 during movement of thelamp arm 24 to its expose position and will rotate the outer half 84 ofthe one-way clutch 81 a predetermined distance from its start position(which will be in addition to rotation of the outer half 84 caused bythe electric clutch 108 during subsequent relative movement between theactivating lever 26 and lamp 24) so that upon return of the lamp arm 24to its normal position the one-way clutch 81 will rotate the driveroller 62 through an arc in addition to the arc through which it wouldotherwise be rotated due to the width of the spacing opening 36associated with the window 20 at the exposure station 14. Thus anadditional predetermined spacing will be provided between the graphicsformed along the strip material 12.

OPERATION

To use the device to form graphics along the strip material 12, anoperator first selects a template 22 having a positive image 33corresponding to a graphic he wishes to form, positions the locatingorifices 34 associated with that window 20 on the locating members 23 ofthe device 10, checks the relationship of the positive image 33associated with that window 20 with the adjacent graphic (if any) on thestrip material 12, and presses the actuating lever 26 toward theexposure station 14. Such movement of the actuating lever 26 moves thelamp arm 24 toward the exposure station 14, causing the locating members23 to be moved from their preview position to their exposure position sothat the desired window 20 will be positioned over the strip material 12and the pad 15. Such movement of the locating members 23 is caused bymovement of the bar 46 which is driven by the pin 45 on the lamp arm 24,and in turn drives the movable part 43 of the drawer slide 40 on whichthe locating members 23 are mounted via engagement of the projection 52in the cam slot 50. During such movement of the lamp arm 24, the boss88, also mounted on the pin 45, will slide along the end portion 86 ofthe rod 85 away from the stop 89. When the lamp arm 24 reaches itsexpose position with the glass plate 18 pressed against the stripmaterial over the pad 15, movement of the lamp arm 24 will stop. Theactuating lever 26 will then be manually moved relative to the lamp arm24 to first engage and straighten the toggle linkage 115 between theframe 16 and lamp arm 24 to firmly press the glass plate 18 against theportion of the template 22 over the strip material 12 and the pad 15.The pad 15 has a tented upper surface extending transverse of the pathfor the strip material 12 so that such pressure will cause the pad to becompressed from its central portion outwardly to its edges along thepath for the strip material, thereby sweeping air from between the webs53 and 54 of the strip material 12 at the exposure station to ensureintimate engagement therebetween.

Such relative movement of the actuating lever 26 with respect to thelamp arm 24 will also cause (via the crank 99 and the bars 93 and 96 andcarrier link 95) movement of the sensor 92 along the slot 107 in theframe and across the spacing opening 36 associated with the window 20 atthe exposure station 14 which is positioned over the slot 107 and onehalf of the electric clutch 108 to be rotated via the spur gear 110,sector gear 111, pin 98 and crank 99. Light emitted from the light 91will be received by the sensor 92 as it traverses that spacing opening36 and while the sensor 92 receives light it will trigger an electricalsignal to activate the electric clutch 108. The halves of the electricclutch 108 will slip, however, since the clutch 108 cannot transmitsufficient torque to move the drive roller 62 via the one-way clutch 81and friction clutch 83.

When the actuating lever 26 reaches its lowered position, engagement ofthe actuating lever 26 with the switch 21 mounted on the lamp arm 24will flash the flash lamp 19 so that it irradiates the strip material 12and forms a graphic therein corresponding to the window 20 at theexposure station 14.

Subsequently as the actuating lever 26 starts to return to its raisedposition under the influence of the spring 29, initial relative movementbetween the activating lever 26 and the lamp arm will move the sensor 92in the other direction across the spacing opening 36 associated with thewindow at the exposure station 14. The sensor 92 will again receivelight from the light 91 as it traverses the spacing opening 36 so thatthe electric clutch 108 will be activated. When the electric clutch isactivated it will transmit sufficient torque between the halves of theelectric clutch 108 (which are now rotated in the opposite direction) torotate the outer half 84 of the one-way clutch 81 in its releasedirection around its inner half 82, and move the bar 85 and the stop 89fixed thereon toward the boss 88 a distance related to the width of thespacing opening 36 at the exposure station 14. Subsequently when theactivating lever 26 returns to its raised position under the influenceof the spring 29 and returns the lamp arm 24 to its normal position,engagement of the boss 88 with the stop 89 will return the outer half 84of the one-way clutch 81 to its start position and rotate the inner half82 of the one-way clutch 81, thereby rotating the drive roller 62 viathe friction clutch 72, gear 71, and shaft 73, to advance the stripmaterial 12 along its path by a distance related to the width of thespacing opening 36 associated with the window 20 at the exposure station14, and thus produce a predetermind spacing between that graphic and thenext graphic to be formed along the strip material 12.

Subsequent graphics can similarly be formed along the strip material 12.Should the operator desire to provide spacing between subsequentgraphics in addition to that automatically provided by the spacingopenings 36, he may do so by rotating the internally threaded tube 124to move it toward the stop 89 so that it will be engaged by the boss 88as the lamp arm 24 is moved from its spaced to its expose position. Thiswill rotate the outer half 84 of the one-way clutch 81 a distanceadditional to that which it will be rotated via the mechanism responsiveto the sensor 92 so that as the lamp arm 24 returns from its expose toits normal position, the drive roller 62 will be rotated an additionalamount to provide the additional spacing. Should the operator desire tomanually adjust the spacing between graphics to be formed along thestrip material, he may also do that by manually rotating the knob 67,which knob 67 may be rotated either to advance the strip material 12along the path, or to return the strip material 12 toward the supplycartridge 17. If the strip material 12 is moved toward the supplycartridge 17, the spring 79 will move the frame 58 upon which the guiderollers 57 and 56 are mounted to maintain tension in the portion of thestrip material 12 over the pad 15.

After a desired sequence of graphics is formed it may be severed fromthe strip material 12 still in the device 10 by actuating the cuttingarm 65 via the knob 66.

I claim:
 1. In a device useful for forming a series of graphics such asletters, symbols or pictures along a strip of radiation sensitivematerial, said device comprising:a frame; means on said frame fordefining an exposure station; means mounted on said frame adapted formoving a said strip through said exposure station to position apredetermined portion of the strip at said exposure station; and meansadapted to be actuated at said exposure station for momentarilyirradiating a portion of the strip at said exposure station in a sharplydefined graphic pattern, including:a template comprising a thinradiation transparent member with a radiation blocking coating havingsharply defined open areas corresponding in shape to graphics to beformed to provide radiation transmissive windows through said template;means on said frame for mounting said template to register the windowsat said exposure station; pressing means for releasably clamping saidtemplate at said exposure station in intimate contact with the portionof the strip at the exposure station; and radiation means for brieflyirradiating the portion of the strip at said exposure station throughthe aligned window, comprising flash lamp, an arm supporting said flashlamp at one end and having a second end mounted on said frame forpivotal movement to move said lamp between a normal position spaced fromsaid exposure station to afford visible inspection of said template andthe portion of the strip at said exposure station, and an exposeposition with said lamp closely adjacent the exposure station, and meansfor operating said flash lamp upon movement of the lamp to its exposeposition and activation of said pressing means, the improvement wherein:said means for defining an exposure station comprises a resilient padsupported on said frame; said arm includes a transparent plate havingone surface adapted to engage radiation sensitive material at saidexposure station on its side opposite said resilient pad and supportssaid lamp adjacent the surface of said plate opposite said one surface;and said pressing means comprises a toggle linkage including first andsecond bars having adjacent ends pivotably joined together to form aknee and opposite second ends, the second end of said first bar beingpivotably attached to said frame and the second end of said second barbeing pivotably attached to said arm; and an activating lever pivotablymounted at one end on said frame and having a portion adapted to engagesaid knee and straighten said toggle linkage upon pivotal movement ofsaid actuating lever from a raised to a lowered position to move saidarm to said expose position and press said plate toward said pad.
 2. Adevice according to claim 1 wherein the second end of said first bar ismounted on said frame to afford longitudinal movement of said first barrelative to said frame, and said means for pressing includes a springbetween said frame and said knee aligned with said first bar forapplying generally uniform pressure between said plate and said pad uponmovement of said actuating lever to its actuating position.